Abstract
The purpose of this study is to alleviate difficulties with interprofessional collaboration in between medical and welfare professional settings by better understanding what sort of communication gaps occur and identifying how such gaps can be filled. Questionnaire responses from 401 doctors, nurses, medical social workers, care managers, and visiting nurses are statistically analyzed. Results suggest significant differences by profession: "I find it difficult to say things depending on the profession" (p< .001),"Patient discharge schedules are often decided suddenly" (p< .001), "We consult across specialties when we cannot resolve an issue within our own field." (p< .001), "I feel that people in other fields look down on my own field of specialty" (p< .001). Although "I use terminology that is familiar to people in other fields" had a high average value across all professions and did not present a significant difference by profession (n.s.), there was a significant difference by profession (p< .001) for "The language used across different specialties has a lot of technical terms and is difficult to understand". This suggests communication gaps due to a difference in perception, wherein respondents say "I use terminology that is familiar to people in other fields" but at the same time report that "The language used across different specialties has a lot of technical terms and is difficult to understand" when they are on the receiving end. To fill in such communication gaps as much as possible, it is important to understand what knowledge and information is wanted or needed by counterparts in other professions and to convey such information in understandable language.
